all fired up!
This hunky firefighter leads an NYC triathlon team, proving New York’s Bravest really can do it all
WHEN firefighter Eddie Vega was participating in his first NYC triathlon in 2011, he thought he was doing great. He had swum a mile in the Hudson River and biked 13 miles on Mosholu Parkway, in The Bronx. But as he neared the biking course’s turnaround point, he encountered a wave of riders already heading in the opposite direction — and a crushing sense of deflation.
“I realized, ‘Oh wow, I’m only halfway through, and my legs already feel like they’re giving out,’ ” Vega, 31, tells The Post. “It can be hard doing this alone.”
So the following year, Vega cofounded the FDNY Triathlon Team, meaning he will swim for 1 mile, bike for 25 and run for 6 at this Sunday’s Panasonic New York City Triathlon along with 15 fellow members of New York’s Bravest.
“It’s exhilarating to run through the city with my team,” says Vega, who’s been with the FDNY since 2002. (While Vega and his team will start the race together, they’ll compete at their own pace.) “You’re . . . being cheered on by the people we’ve sworn to protect.”
Vega describes himself as a guy who’s always had “ants in his pants” and who likes to try new activities. Before his first triathlon, he had only run 5Ks. “I had a lot of things going on in my personal life,” Vega says of his inspiration to start competing in triathlons. “I had a 9-year-old daughter and wife and my job. There were a lot of things I couldn’t control in my life, but this race was something I could have full control over.” As a firefighter, Vega already has to
stay in shape. He runs 5Ks twice a week and does weight training at the fire station up to four times a week.
“A lot of my training just comes from my day-to-day job,” Vega says. “As a professional rescuer, you have to be strong mentally and physically, have a lot of endurance, and that translates well into triathlons.”
But while Vega competes to become a better athlete, he also sees it as a great way to bond with his fellow firefighters. After Sunday’s race, the group plans to celebrate with beers at the West 79th Street Boat Basin Café.
“When you’re at the firehouse you refer to people as captain and chief captain,” Vega says. “But when you’re out there, you’re running with the guys.”
In preparation for the event, Vega hosts weekly mock triathlons on Orchard Beach in The Bronx, where he and his team swim half a mile, bike 15 miles and run 3 miles. On top of that, he teaches a weekly spin class at LA Fitness.
But although he leads the team, he says his fellow firefighters inspire and push him to perform his best.
“I can be pretty lazy,” Vega says. “If I was training by myself, I’d bike for 10 miles, then stop at the nearest bar to have a beer.
“I don’t see myself as the team leader — they’re my mentors, and I wouldn’t be able to do this without them.”